Voters will be electing each and every one of the country’s judges—removing the last meaningful check on Morena, the ruling party. Nigeria has more people without electricity than any other country, but fixing that will be fiendishly difficult (7:50). And if it is so easy to order a takeaway pizza, why are home pizza ovens all the rage (14:11)?
Every year, on the last Monday in May, the United States honors its war dead. It is often celebrated with parades, cookouts, and ceremonies at military cemeteries.
While many people just think of it as a three-day weekend and the beginning of summer, it is a tradition that extends back over 160 years.
From its 19th-century origins, its path to becoming a federal holiday took over 100 years.
Learn more about Memorial Day, how it got started, and how it is celebrated, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In front of an audience at the Hay Literary Festival Tom Sutcliffe talks to The archaeologist and presenter of the hit TV show, The Great British Dig, Chloë Duckworth, who explains how every object tells a story. She reveals how even the rubbish our ancestors threw away can offer a window on the past and forge a connection with the present day.
Business journalist Saabira Chaudhuri's new book Consumed, examines how companies have harnessed single-use plastics to turbocharge their profits over the last seventy years. Consumer goods makers have poured billions of dollars into convincing us we need disposable cups, bags, bottles, sachets and plastic-packaged ultra-processed foods. Taking in marketing, commercial strategy and psychology, she explains just how we got here.
The paleobiologist Sarah Gabbott is more interested in looking at how what we throw away today becomes the fossils of tomorrow. Discarded (co-authored with Jan Zalasiewicz) highlights the cutting-edge science that is emerging to reveal the far-future human footprint on Earth.
Ever wondered how Birkenstocks went from a German cobbler’s passion project 250 years ago to a starring role in the Barbie movie?
Or who created that bottle of Sriracha that is permanently living in your fridge? Did you know that Air Jordans were initially banned by the NBA, or that Super Mario became the best-selling video game character ever thanks to a strategy called “The Infinite Game?”
On Wondery’s new weekly podcast, The Best Idea Yet, Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer have identified the most viral products of all time and reveal their untold origin stories, plus the bold risk-takers who brought them to life. From the Happy Meal to Levi’s 501 jeans, come for the products you’re obsessed with, stay for the business insights that’ll make you the most interesting person at your next brunch.
Listen on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts:
In this episode, First Things brings you the recording of the 2025 D.C. Lecture presented by Carl Trueman. Please subscribe at www.firstthings.com/subscribe in order to get more information on future lectures and access many great pieces!
Join us on YouTube at pythonbytes.fm/live to be part of the audience. Usually Monday at 10am PT. Older video versions available there too.
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A guide for astronauts (now, programmers using Git) about what to do when things go wrong.
Flight Rules are the hard-earned body of knowledge recorded in manuals that list, step-by-step, what to do if X occurs, and why. Essentially, they are extremely detailed, scenario-specific standard operating procedures. [...]
NASA has been capturing our missteps, disasters and solutions since the early 1960s, when Mercury-era ground teams first started gathering "lessons learned" into a compendium that now lists thousands of problematic situations, from engine failure to busted hatch handles to computer glitches, and their solutions.
Built with IDE integration in mind from the beginning
Principles
Performance
IDE first
Inference (inferring types in untyped code)
Open source
I mistakenly tried this on the project I support with the most horrible abuses of the dynamic nature of Python, pytest-check. It didn’t go well. But perhaps the project is ready for some refactoring. I’d like to try it soon on a more well behaved project.
Melissa, Leah, and Kate kick the show off with a look at the Court’s 4-4 deadlock on Oklahoma’s religious charter school case. Then, it’s a romp through the shadow docket, Judge Jim Ho’s sweaty pleas for attention, Kristi Noem’s humiliating Senate hearing, and selections from Trump’s fascism grab bag. Leah also speaks with Professor Noah Rosenblum of NYU School of Law about the 6-3 decision from the Court allowing the president to fire federal commissioners without cause.
Melissa, Leah, and Kate kick the show off with a look at the Court’s 4-4 deadlock on Oklahoma’s religious charter school case. Then, it’s a romp through the shadow docket, Judge Jim Ho’s sweaty pleas for attention, Kristi Noem’s humiliating Senate hearing, and selections from Trump’s fascism grab bag. Leah also speaks with Professor Noah Rosenblum of NYU School of Law about the 6-3 decision from the Court allowing the president to fire federal commissioners without cause.
Today, the What A Day team is off. But we’re excited to bring you a recent episode of Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams.
In the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, we’ve watched Republicans erode American democracy with alarming speed. While this political moment may feel unprecedented, it isn’t new. America has dealt its share of far-right movements, fascist provocateurs, and anti-democratic threats. But time and again, heroes have risen to meet those moments. In this episode, Stacey unpacks how we’ve fought fascism before – and won. She’s joined by the host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism.
Subscribe to Assembly Required wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
Learn & Do More:
Be Curious: History can be an extremely useful tool to help us navigate the present. Pick up Rachel Maddow’s book Prequel — now available in paperback anywhere books are sold. Also pick up the Assembly Required Recommended Read: The Dictator’s Learning Curve by William Dobson.
Solve problems: The best thing we can do right now is show up and use our voices. There are two key ways to do this. First: call your representatives! Democrat, Republican, Independent — it doesn’t matter. Tell them where you stand and why it matters. Second: get involved locally. Join a protest, volunteer to support a community that is particularly vulnerable right now, donate to a grassroots group in your area. Change starts with showing up, so let’s get to work.
Do Good: Not only has Trump waged a war on books, he’s waged a war on independent businesses. So if you’re interested in reading any of the books I mentioned today, or want to pick up our weekly recommended reading, purchase them at a local bookstore. If there isn’t a local option near you, or you just prefer the convenience of online shopping, check out small businesses that operate online — like Octavia’s Bookshelf.
